Status Updates From التأثير: علم نفس الإقناع

“Certain nightclub owners manufacture a brand of visible social proof for their clubs’ quality by creating long waiting lines outside when there is plenty of room inside.”

“We view a behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it.”

“In referring to the fierce loyalty of Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners, one commentator has said. ‘If you can persuade your customers to tattoo your name on their chests, you’ll probably never have to worry about them shifting brands.’”

“Within the realm of compliance, securing an initial commitment is the key.”

“It should come as no surprise that people with a particularly strong proclivity toward consistency in their attitudes and actions fall frequent victim to consistency-based influence tactics.” Avoid foot-in-the-door or low-ball techniques.

“I have discovered a way to handle people who try to use the consistency principle on me. I just tell them exactly what they are doing.” Trying to trap people with their own words is just as bad, if not manipulatively worse, than affirming the principle of consistency. If only because it doesn’t fit the Golden Rule.

“We must be wary of the tendency to be automatically and unthinkingly consistent, for it lays us open to the maneuvers of those who want to exploit the mechanical commitment-consistency sequence for profit.”

The stupidity of hazing is that it enhances the group’s attractiveness by the Hell Week humiliation and degrading activity requirements. “one study of 54 tribal cultures found that those with the most dramatic and stringent initiation ceremonies were those with the greatest group solidarity”. Severity heightens commitment.

“Will you please call us if you change your plans?” Reduces no-show rates by 20% if people even make a verbal commitment.

Reduce chances of a hung jury by secret ballot initiatives rather than a show of hands.

If “public commitments tend to be lasting commitments “, why does this principle fail so spectacularly with politicians? They make so many fake promises that one more broken promise won’t matter? They don’t gain any social credit for the promises they do keep?

“Charitable organizations, for instance, will often use progressively escalating commitments to induce individuals to perform major favors.” Start small and build.

Works in churches and in used car buying situations. “Get the customer’s ok on paper. Get the money up front. Control ‘em. Control the deal. Ask ‘em if they would buy the car right now if the price is right.”

The removal of hope, when the participant has decided his problem can only be solved by the product or service offered near at hand, means even if you demolish the argument….they are still inclined to buy the discredited thing because otherwise they’ll have to research other options without a firm solution.

Quick guide to bias confirmation and echo chambers: “Once we have made up our minds about issues, stubborn consistency allows us a very appealing luxury: We don’t have to think hard about the issues anymore.”

“The person whose beliefs, words, and deeds don’t match is seen as confused, two-faced, even mentally ill.”

Sarah breaks off a live-in relationship with Tim (because he refuses to marry her or stop drinking) and gets engaged to an old boyfriend. Tim learns of the engagement, swears he’ll stop marry her and stop drinking if they get back together. So she breaks off the engagement and claims Tim (who later decided he didn’t need to either marry her or abstain from drinking) is 1st in her heart. Tim = abuser.

“A person who feels responsible for the terms of a contract will be more likely to live up to that contract.” And the person integrally involved in forging a contract through successive stages of negotiations is more likely to feel satisfaction.

Reciprocity and avoidance of a taker’s reputation can open people to exploitation because of the feeling of obligation and indebtedness incurred by a gift (jewelry to a mistress, flowers by Hare Krishnas) or uninvited favor (free address labels or a jump-start leading to borrowing a car) or rejection-then-retreat (lead with an outrageous request and the next will seem reasonable-Watergate).

Reading this with an eye toward manipulative influence - tactics used by predators. Mimics “copy the trigger features of other animals” to exploit an outcome for their own benefit. Increasing price can trigger either scarcity mindset or ‘expensive=good’ or perceptual contrast (lowering budget inhibitions by offering the costliest thing first).